WealsoquestionthetimingofOren’sarticleanditsdoggedattempttoportraythestateofIsraelastolerantofChristians--anassertionwhosefallaciousnessweexperienceonadailybasis.OrenbeginshistextwithadescriptionofHamasgraffitionthewallsofaBethlehemchurchin1994.Buthecertainlydoesn’tmentiontheHebrewgraffiti(“deathtoChristians,” “Jesus is dead,” and “pricetag,”*)sprayedonthewallsofchurchesinJerusalemjustafewdaysago,andagainlastmonth.Thewriting,sotospeak,isonthewall,anditwilltakemuchmorethanOren’swhitewashingtomaskthehostilitytowhichPalestinianChristians--andallPalestinians--aresubjectedinthecontemporaryrealityofoccupation.

Ateverylevel,Oren’sfinger-pointingmustbeanalyzedwithaneyetotherootcausesherefusestoexpose.Foronething,whenhementionstheChurchoftheNativitybeinginhabitedandlootedbygunmen,heneglectstomentiontheIsraelitanksshootingatthechurchfromtheoutside.Foranother,whilehegoesonaboutpresent-dayreligioustension,heneglectstosaythatChristiansandMuslimslivedtogetherforthepast1500yearswithoutmajorproblems--andthat,uponthecreationofthestateofIsraelin1948,welost more than 100,000Christiansvirtuallyovernight.Andthestrongest,deepestrootsofall--therootsofempireandcolonialism?These,too,gounacknowledged.TheUSinvasionofIraq,forinstance,hasdonegraverdamagetoChristian-MuslimrelationsacrosstheworldthananythingthatappearsinOren’sarticle.

AsKairosPalestine,werefusetobemarginalizedinthewayOrendefinesourmarginalization;werefusetobepittedagainstourPalestinianMuslimneighboursandfriends;andwerefusetoletourcollectiveoppressionbemanipulatedinawaythatfragmentsus,obscuresus,ormaskstheoppression’struecause, which is the Israeli occupation.

(*Thephrasepricetagrefers both toactsofviolencecommittedbyextremistIsraelisettlersasrevengeformeasurestakenagainstthesettlemententerpriseandtothesettlergroupitselfthatperformssuchacts.Over90percentofIsraelipoliceinvestigationsintoracistviolenceenactedbysettlersagainstnon-Jews,bothChristiansandMuslims,areultimatelyclosedwithoutprosecution.)